The Shock Absorber

Apr 08 2025 162 ep. 59 mins 8
The Shock Absorber Podcast artwork

Thinking and doing church a little differently...

  Religion & Spirituality
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How to "Small Groups"

Apr 08 2025 71 mins  
MINI-SERIES: The Practice of Community GroupsThe episode opens with a quick sidestep into Fantastic Four before diving into Joel’s latest read, The Death and Life of Australian Soccer by Joe Gorman. The book prompts a rich conversation about the origins and development of soccer in Australia, highlighting the deep roots migrant communities have in shaping the game. The guys explo

The power and purpose of small groups

Apr 01 2025 68 mins  
MINI-SERIES: The Strategy of Community GroupsJoel, Tim, and Joey take a deep dive into the strategy of community groups, exploring how different churches structure them and why they are a vital part of discipleship. They begin with a cultural artefact from Freya India’s appearance on Modern Wisdom, discussing Gen Z’s shifting views on faith, the gender divide in religious engag

Better at growing when we're with others

Mar 25 2025 57 mins  
MINI-SERIES: The Theology of Community Groups. While Stu is away, Joey joins Joel and Tim to chat about the Theology-Strategy-Practice of Community Groups...They kick things off with a discussion on Cantopop and Mandopop, as Joey shares his experience attending Eason Chan’s Fear & Dreams concert. From there, they shift gears to explore small groups—how they have developed i

What is your go to authority? - Live Berea tutorial (Part 2)

Mar 18 2025 39 mins  
MINI-SERIES: Part 2 of our sneak peek of Berea as Stu continues the first tutorial from the Berea Internship.Churches may share the same faith, but their theology, strategy, and practice often differ. They begin by using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience) as a diagnostic tool to assess how churches develop their ministry frameworks. What does

Developing a ministry framework - Live Berea tutorial (Part 1)

Mar 11 2025 47 mins  
MINI-SERIES: Get a taster for what Berea is like as Stu runs the first tutorial from the Berea Internship.As Saturday Night Live celebrates its 50th anniversary, the guys explore how institutions evolve, questioning how ideas can be institutionalised while still remaining relevant over time.Stu then starts up the Berea tutorial with a deep dive into ministry frameworks, beginning w

Building a comprehensive church training system

Mar 03 2025 44 mins  
MINI-SERIES: The PRACTICE of in-house ministry training with Joel, Tim and Stu.As the next Federal election approaches, political leaders in Australia have started appearing on podcasts to connect with voters in a more direct and unfiltered way. But how does this approach compare to political campaigning in the United States? They explore the differences between the Australian and

An engine room of ministry thought

Feb 25 2025 46 mins  
MINI-SERIES: Tim, Joel and Stu use Berea as a way of investigating the strategy of in-house ministry training.This episode begins with the launch of Tim’s book, The Child in God's Church, which explores theologically integrating children into the life of the church. Rather than seeing young people as a future project or a problem to solve, the discussion emphasises that they are

Not what to think, but HOW to think

Feb 11 2025 67 mins  
MINI-SERIES: Tim, Joel and Stu chat Theology-Strategy-Practice for internal ministry training, based off Soul Revival's which is called Berea. They explore why teaching how to think—rather than what to think—is essential for Christian discipleship.They begin by unpacking Apple’s controversial Crush ad for the iPad Pro, which sparked backlash for its destruction of cultural ar

Ministry as mates

Jan 28 2025 75 mins  
MINI-SERIES: Theology-Strategy-Practice for ministry teams. Stu, Tim and Joel look at the practice element of ministry teams. They explore how friendship fuels the heart of ministry.They kick things off by reflecting on Wes Huff’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience and the cultural shift toward appreciating Christianity’s influence on the West. Is this a Bob Dylan or a Jesu

Is efficiency a good metric for ministry?

Jan 21 2025 73 mins  
MINI-SERIES: Theology-Strategy-Practice for ministry teams - this time it's strategy behind church ministry teams.The guys delve into Soul Revival's Strategy of ministry teams. Starting with cultural artefacts, debating the depiction of AI in fiction versus reality and sharing stories about our favorite libraries, setting the stage for a discussion on deeper societal reflections.Ne